#121. Pus
Olivia decided to become Daphne at this moment. She closed her eyes and went back to her old self. Daphne and Asherad stared at each other. Asherad's nutrition was thin, and his eyes were weak. Aside from the fact that he was filthy and shabby, he looked weak, and his helpless eyes seemed to show despair.
"Story?"
"Yes."
"What a story."
Daphne said in his low breath.
"Our story."
“...”
"Our story."
The word "we" softens Asherad's face a little. It was as if the spring breeze was blowing in a dry winter, and it looked as if the snow had melted slightly. Asherad followed Daphne's lead. When he woke up, the sky was blue, and the sun was stingingly strong. The weather quickly cooled, and the sweltering heat began again.
"First, why don't you wash up?"
Daphne said to Asherad's face as if he were asking why.
"You're so dirty."
Daphne led him to an inn. She paid for the inn and ordered him to go up. Asherad did not rebel and washed as she instructed. When the water came into contact with his body, his mind began to return.
Why are you here, and what should you do? After washing for a while, he went outside and found a suitably neat outfit. He came down to the first floor of the inn with a cleaner face.
His short black hair had grown to about a short haircut. His bangs covered his eyes, but he looked more superior. His face was not as smooth as before, but he had a beard, and it was definitely a look that would take her breath away. His dark green eyes stared straight at one place.
The innkeeper and others gathered at the tavern on the first floor with a gasp in their eyes, but Asherad ignored them as if he were used to it and followed Daphne outside.
When he got out of the bath, the uncomfortable heat felt moderately cool. Daphne led him to the tea room. The terrace of the tearoom, where the common people enjoyed tea. Asherad sat where Daphne pointed without looking back.
Olivia decided to become Daphne at this moment. She closed her eyes and went back to her old self. Daphne and Asherad stared at each other. Asherad's nutrition was thin, and his eyes were weak. Aside from the fact that he was filthy and shabby, he looked weak, and his helpless eyes seemed to show despair.
"Story?"
"Yes."
"What a story."
Daphne said in his low breath.
"Our story."
“...”
"Our story."
The word "we" softens Asherad's face a little. It was as if the spring breeze was blowing in a dry winter, and it looked as if the snow had melted slightly. Asherad followed Daphne's lead. When he woke up, the sky was blue, and the sun was stingingly strong. The weather quickly cooled, and the sweltering heat began again.
"First, why don't you wash up?"
Daphne said to Asherad's face as if he were asking why.
"You're so dirty."
Daphne led him to an inn. She paid for the inn and ordered him to go up. Asherad did not rebel and washed as she instructed. When the water came into contact with his body, his mind began to return.
Why are you here, and what should you do? After washing for a while, he went outside and found a suitably neat outfit. He came down to the first floor of the inn with a cleaner face.
His short black hair had grown to about a short haircut. His bangs covered his eyes, but he looked more superior. His face was not as smooth as before, but he had a beard, and it was definitely a look that would take her breath away. His dark green eyes stared straight at one place.
The innkeeper and others gathered at the tavern on the first floor with a gasp in their eyes, but Asherad ignored them as if he were used to it and followed Daphne outside.
When he got out of the bath, the uncomfortable heat felt moderately cool. Daphne led him to the tea room. The terrace of the tearoom, where the common people enjoyed tea. Asherad sat where Daphne pointed without looking back.
Soon after, the tea came out. It tasted as bad as the food enjoyed by the common people, but Asherad drank it anyway.
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Let's talk."
Daphne nodded. For more than 10 years, she was held captive by the Imperial Family, including Asherad. The time of punishment, her own will should not have existed, and even if she said it, it disappeared helplessly. Nevertheless, Daphne wanted to be brave at this moment.
She will not flee or run away.
She looked at the man she had once loved, who was also the sun and the god.
"What do you want from me... Did you come here?"
"To be with you."
The answer came out like a machine. He had the attitude of a baby bird that only the mother bird knew. Daphne smoothed the cup. There was no hesitation in the words that came out of his mouth.
"That's impossible. We've come too far."
Asherad did not stop her. Unlike the time when he was blindly possessive, he was looking into Daphne's eyes and listening to the story.
It was impossible, and there was a sense of desperation in his eyes.
Daphne tried to ignore his desperation.
"Asherad. I mean. I was so sick during the time I spent with you."
“...”
"Just because I threatened your place from birth... You had to take revenge on me. I thought about it many times. Was it a sin that I was born? What did I do wrong?"
“...”
"No matter how much I think about it, I feel sorry for you. I didn't do anything wrong."
“...”
"Because I didn't want that. I never wanted you to live so miserably."
“...”
"Ashered, I wanted you to be happy."
At Daphne's words, Asheradd bowed slightly. Daphne was a little frightened by his dark face.
"I can be happy only if I have you."
"I can be happy without you."
It was like a parallel conflict. Daphne smiled sadly.
"What you did to me was to vent your anger."
“....”
“You have killed those around me and made my existence a sin and a curse.”
“...”
“You made me look at you like that, like that.”
“But it was love.”
Love. Asherad stared straight into her eyes. Yes, this man said he had no regrets before that. Daphne got tired of it and didn't talk to him. But now he had to do it. She was obliged to put an end to it.
"I think it's because no one taught you love."
“...”
"Love isn't like that."
Daphne grabbed the handle of the cup and glared at Asherad.
"What is love?"
She squeezed her eyes shut at the question.
"It's not about taking people under your control, monopolizing them, and locking them up."
“...”
"Wishing for that person's happiness, wishing them happy, even if you get hurt or die, you want to make them happy."
“...”
"You really don't know? Why don't you know?"
Tears welled up in Daphne's eyes. He has never received a 'proper' love from someone. It just grew dry without any emotion. Therefore, this man became a monster.
Love.
Asherad thought for a long time. A foolish man who knew everything but didn't know the most important thing. The corners of the man's mouth went up.
"Then, Daphne, did you ever love me?"
“...”
"Who did you love? I was kind to you, and you jumped right over. Did you want to sacrifice yourself? Didn't you want me to be your savior?"
“...”
"You didn't love me the way I was, either."
It was a heart-wrenching speech. Daphne was lost in thought when she heard that. She thought about why she liked Asherad in the first place. When he was a child, he looked like the Prince of Daphne. A beautiful face shaped like a statue, a strong body, and a sweet voice. All of them were attractive.
"That's right."
“...”
"Maybe."
Daphne readily admitted. Asherad's eyes widened slightly. Daphne's face didn't show any hint of sin.
"But Asherad."
“...”
"I did love you..."
Tears dripped down one eye.
"Because you showed me the way that day..."
“...”
"When I was having a hard time in the Imperial Palace, you were the only person who was kind to me. Even if it was a lie, that's why I liked you."
Tears dripped from her eyes. Daphne couldn't bear it, and she cried bitterly. Maybe he was more concerned about his external status, his being a Crown Prince.
Daphne did not deny it.
"Do you remember, Asherad? That day when it was raining like a fox. You chose me and ran to me, not the dead Empress."
She still remembers it clearly. On that day, when the sun was shining and the rain was pouring down, he abandoned the noble Kalista and approached her. She still remembers the hand hr held out to her while she was crying alone, and the feeling she felt when she held it.
The rain that dripped down his chin from the long eyelashes around his eyes, the white shirt that showed through his skin, how he looked at her, and how he smiled. She will never forget the sound of rain and voices hitting the earth.
At that time, Daphne thought that this was what love was.
She thought she could sacrifice herself for this person.
"You accused me of liking you as a savior, right? But... you"
Daphne straightened her expression, which had been disturbed by tears, and looked at him coldly.
"You didn't even become a savior for me."
The words dully touched each other's hearts. She wanted to say it from the beginning. He did not become a savior. He ignored the hardships and hardships that had been done to Daphne, and only encouraged them.
Do you blame me for loving something else?
He doesn't deserve to criticize her. Asherad laughed. Tears dripped from his eyes. Why, why do you cry? Daphne looked at Asherad, and Asherad saw Daphne. Asherad said dryly, as if possessed.
"Yes, I did."
“...”
"I didn't do it because I couldn't!"
Asherad shouted, and Daphne looked at him in amazement. Suddenly, his mask broke.
"Daphne, I couldn't do that, I didn't have the power to be your savior!"
Daphne's eyes widened. She looked at Asherad blankly. His eyes turned red as if tears were flowing down his face.
***
Young Asherad watched Daphne coldly. She was sweeping the floor with a broom, and her hands were red. Suddenly, he remembered the warmth of the blanket Daphne had put on him.
"Shouldn't I bring her gloves?"
"His Majesty will be angry."
“...Gloves."
"Please remember that His Majesty is watching."
At Leon's words, Asherad looked at Daphne. There was a bitter feeling left behind, but Asherad decided to think of it as "retribution." Asherad had to ignore Daphne's pain.
When the Prince of Pindus tried to scare Daphne, he couldn't make a sound.
The only thing he could do was tell the priest about the situation. Even though he knew she lived in that dirty room, he ignored her. It was because he did not have the power to do so. There was nothing he could do.
Daphne looked up at him and dismissed her sparkling gaze as dog-like.
He wasn't as great as Daphne thought! He was barely surviving!
Asherad thought Daphne should be punished! So he treated her like a dog! This incompetence is not his fault.
You should have been punished anyway.
Just be a dog who knows nothing.
I'm going to crush you.
Just shouting from the floor.
But apart from his vengeance, it was clear that he did not enjoy seeing this woman's plight.
She didn't want to see her cold, so she called her to a warm room. Seeing that she couldn't even eat snacks and was excluded, he handed out biscuits again. But when he saw her smiling brightly, he felt a strange sense of uplift. His love was like some rotten pus, stained with helplessness, incompetence, vengeance, and hatred. Asherad finally burst the pus.
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